After a red carpet grand opening, 12th Ave wine shop La Cha-Bliss is ready for its first Pride.
CHS reported here on the new venture from Howard Russell who is building on a career performing as Ladie Chablis to create a new Capitol Hill wine store. Continue reading
12th Ave’s Byrek and Baguette doesn’t really need any hype or social media influencers to build its steady business from regulars and the kids from nearby Seattle University. A decade on this stretch of Capitol Hill will do that.
âWe donât do any advertising,â Natalie Gjekmarkaj said with a small laugh. âPeople just know us.â
Tucked in among the neighborhoodâs busier corridors, the eatery doesnât pop up on typical lunchtime sandwich searches. The focus here is byrek, the flaky, crispy, filled pastry of the Balkans.
âEven if somebody wants to come here and look for sandwiches, our restaurant doesnât come up,â she admits. âBut the people who know us? Theyâre coming. We have very loyal customers.â Continue reading
An employee at a Capitol Hill fried chicken joint is recovering after being punched in the face Tuesday night. Seattle police are searching for three suspects who assaulted the 29-year-old after they were asked to leave the establishment for harassing customers with homophobic slurs.
Officers responded to Dave’s Hot Chicken in the 1200 block of E Pike just before 11 PM Tuesday after the reported assault. Witnesses said that three males were harassing patrons while eating. One witness believed the harassment, including animal noises and name-calling, was due to their sexual orientation. A manager told the suspects to stop or leave. Continue reading
By Matt Dowell
Mint & Martini, a new restaurant replacing Barrio on 12th Ave, aims to open by the middle of May. Theyâre bringing modern Indian and Indochinese cuisine to the big space.
Beyond the food, they want to make a fun place for people to hang out that fits the Capitol Hill scene.
âWeâll have a bar. It wonât be just your typical Indian restaurant,â the ownership tells CHS. âWe want people to come and sit at the bar, have drinks, chat, and do happy hours.â
The bar will feature a variety of cocktails and mocktails, including seasonal drinks âresonating with the Indian summer.â
Its hoped for arrival this spring will also represent one of the less heralded paths to joining the Capitol Hill food and drink scene. Mint & Martini’s ownership is not only coming to a new neighborhood. It is leaping to a new region of the country and a new city with hopes based on price per square foot and demographic opportunity.
As CHS reported in January, this isnât the groupâs first Mint & Martini. They opened a location last year outside of St. Louis, where they also own Red Chili Indian Cuisine & Bar. The St. Louis spot offers Indian-Italian fusion, like the Tikka Vikka pizza, âwhich substitutes the classic pizza red sauce for a spiced tomato- and cream-based sauce that adds a sweet and earthy touchâ, according to one reviewer.
But Capitol Hillâs Mint & Martini wonât borrow much from St. Louis beyond the name. Continue reading
You have a few days to think about your choices. Friday, Kemi Dessert Bar will be open for another weekend of service as the 12th Ave sweet shop settles into rhythm on Capitol Hill.
CHS broke the news here in January on the plans from Kelly Miao to bring her creations to Capitol Hill after honing her craft in New York Cityâs âInstagram Bakery Sceneâ at a prestigious roster of NYC bakeries, bars, and restaurants. Continue reading
SUMA design rendering by Olson Kundig
(Image: Lee Center for the Arts)
By Matt Dowell
An April 22nd meeting has been set between Seattle University and the community following concerns about the school’s plans to demolish its Lee Center for the Arts to make way for a new art museum on 12th Ave. An often behind-the-scenes public body flexed its muscles to get the meeting on the books after âunprecedentedâ public interest in the projectâs early stages.
A year ago, Seattle U announced that a major donation from property developer Dick Hedreen, including his familyâs 200-piece, $300 million collection of paintings, pottery, photography, etchings, and sculptures, would culminate in a new Seattle University Museum of Art (SUMA). When the university announced that the plans meant the Lee Center would have to go, students and faculty pushed back, saying that the building was a âcritical space for students and community membersâ and that planned replacements were inadequate.
Now, the Seattle Universityâs Implementation Advisory Committee has stepped up. IACs are groups of city-appointed volunteers who monitor the development of Seattleâs major institutions – universities, colleges, and hospitals. The institutions are granted special zoning rules but must adhere to agreements made with their surrounding communities. Continue reading
(Image: Ladie Chablis)
(Image: La Cha-Bliss)
Seattle drag queen Ladie Chablis is getting into the wine business and the show is ready to begin.
Capitol Hill’s new La Cha-Bliss wine shop is ready to open any day now.
Known as Howard Russell off the stage, the first-time retail entrepreneur told CHS that the support of the LGBTQIA+ community helped the vinous dreams come to fruition.
âThe location is readyâitâs ready to go. Iâm just waiting on the liquor license to come through, and thatâs where weâre at right now. My goal is to have this store open on the first week of April,â Russell told CHS last month.
Russell was on holiday with friends in December and took note of cute and quaint wine shops, commenting on how lovely it would be to have one. After returning to Seattle, a friend alerted Russell of the available retail space at 1412 12th Ave formerly home to a flower design shop.
âI went ahead, talked to the realtor and the broker⊠and they gave me a good offer on the place itself,â Russell said. âWhen all was said and done, they chose me [over seven applicants] to have my wine store there.â Continue reading
The great Pine/Pike prank of 2011
There have been some great Capitol Hill April Fools’ pranks over the years. 2011’s Pine/Pike sign switch stands out. 2014’s Costco Coffee? Also a winner.
2025? At least one neighborhood prank planned for April 1st is looking pretty sh…
…ockingly chocolately.
CHS doesn’t receive a lot of press releases with subject lines like “Poop Donut” but when we do, we open the email. Take it away, Mighty-O:
This month we have a highly anticipated launch of our Poop Donut that we roll out once a year in honor of April Fools Day!
We’re a local business that is turning 25 this year. Would you be able to help us get the word out? Any exposure would help us immensely! Here’s some info:
Seattle’s Mighty-O Donuts is selling a specialty “poop” donut for April Fool’s Day! Grab this dookie donut to play the ultimate prank on your friends, families, coworkers, and strangers by taking a big delicious bite!
The poop donut pre-orders open on March 18th for pick up on March 31 and April 1st. Limited supply will be sold in store on these two days so be sure to plan your pranks & place your poop pre-orders now!
You can order yours today or swing by the 12th Ave and Madison location and hope you get lucky Tuesday. CHS recommends splurging and adding the googly eyes for a quarter.
Meanwhile, another Hill doughnut shop will also join the April Fools’ Day prank trend. You can check with Summit’s Top Pot to get your hands on their limited edition Habanero Old Fashioned — “â Allergen Warning: Please note these spicy treats do contain real peppers. Please be mindful of food allergies when attempting this prank,” Top Pot notes.
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(Image: Seattle University)
This week brings plans for an August 2026 groundbreaking and design renderings for the planned $25 million Seattle University Museum of Art on 12th Ave.
The realities of the project are also hitting home as Seattle University and the Cornish College of the Arts announced the termination of 354 employees and are moving forward with plans to demolish the Lee Center for the Arts performance and studio space.
The intertwined announcements follow Seattle U’s takeover of Cornish and its South Lake Union campus as the arts school has suffered a continued downturn in enrollment.
The addition of Cornish to Seattle U, meanwhile, boosts the private Jesuit university’s arts presence which includes launching its plans around a major donation from property developer Dick Hedreen and his familyâs 200-piece, $300 million collection of paintings, pottery, photography, etchings, and sculptures. Continue reading
(Image: CHS)
The Seattle Department of Transportation’s $1.55 billion levy plan for 2025 includes Broadway safety improvements, an E Union “Revival,” and transit safety investments. But few of those projects will be more than planning this year.
The guerrilla Capitol Hill Department of Transportation?
It works faster — though its projects don’t tend to last.
Over the weekend, someone completed the latest rogue addition to the neighborhood’s streetscape, secretly installing stop signs on the busy intersections along E John above 12th Ave where pedestrians hoping to cross are often left waiting — or sprinting — to get to the other side. Continue reading
